SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College men’s basketball coach Billy Begley knows how important sophomore guard Donte Powers will be to the Lions this season.
EMCC lost all five starters from last season’s state champion team, and two big bench pieces graduated, too. Powers, who saw time off the bench last season, will be pretty much the only Lion who played any meaningful minutes last season.
“That’s all we got,” Begley said. “Donte and then freshmen.”
The Lions’ inexperience will put plenty of pressure on Powers. Freshman guard Romeo Sanders said the team would be “101 percent leaning on Donte.” But EMCC’s elder statesman, out of Starkville High, is more than ready.
“I kind of felt that I was gonna be in that leadership role, but I’m embracing it right now,” Powers said. “If the team needs me to put them on my back and carry them, I’m looking forward to it.”
Powers won’t be the lone returning player on the court for the Lions. He’ll have help in the form of redshirt freshman Arecko Gipson Jr., who missed last season with a broken foot and will be back to contribute this season.
“He’s a big piece to our team,” Powers said. “He’s one of the key factors.”
Outside of Powers, guard/forward KJ Riley will lead a sophomore class comprising forward Quamontae Monfort and guards RJ Palmer and Isaiah Hardy.
From there, it’s all freshmen, but Begley is excited about the promise they’ll bring into Scooba.
“We have some really talented freshmen who are ready to come in and play, and they’ve shown that they can play,” Begley said. “We’re excited about it.”
Even though the Lions lost their starters and their top talent, Begley said he thinks they’re actually a deeper team than it was last year. That should serve them well entering a conference schedule Begley knows is underrated.
“Everybody thinks we’re just a football league,” he said. “I think that’s far from the case. It’s gonna be a battle again, night in and night out, but I expect us to be right there competing again for it.”
The Lions went 10-2 in conference play last year en route to a state title before losing to Holmes in the first round of the NJCAA Region 23 tournament, a loss that left them disillusioned.
“All that work just to come up empty-handed, that’ll upset anybody,” Powers said.
Even a veteran team that Begley said had “been through it” wasn’t immune to the emotions of the loss, and the coach expects some growing pains from this year’s younger team.
“Last year, it was almost like we were in a 10-step process and we were able to start on step 5,” Begley said. “Now, you’re going all the way back to the beginning.”
From preseason practices, the young Lions know they’re strong on defense and in their transition offense, something they can build on in the early season.
“We had some guys that can shoot the basketball, who can really spread you out, who can play off the dribble but can really shoot it from outside,” Begley said.
But he and his players know rebounding is something EMCC still needs to perfect.
“It’s all about being aggressive and wanting the rebound,” Powers said. “When it comes to rebounding, you can be as selfish as you want to.”
Regardless of how the Lions have fared on the boards, Begley said he’s impressed with how they’ve played during a spate of exhibitions.
“This team is very competitive,” he said. “We’ve got some guys that it doesn’t matter if we’re playing 5-on-5 or if we’re tying our shoes.”
That’ll have to translate into the regular season, which starts against Mid South Prep at 1 p.m. Friday at home. Begley knows the Lions, young as they are, will be ready for it.
“I’m excited about this team,” he said. “This team’s gonna be right there in the thick of things, I expect them again, so we’re ready to get going.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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